Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in The AES Co. (NYSE:AES)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The AES Co. (NYSE:AES) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,692 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in AES were worth $1,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in AES by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in AES by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,010 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its position in AES by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 34,067 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its position in AES by 93.3% in the 4th quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 2,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 1,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC grew its position in AES by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 18,240 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $366,000 after buying an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. 93.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

AES Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of AES stock opened at $12.32 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $11.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $14.12. The AES Co. has a twelve month low of $9.88 and a twelve month high of $22.21. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

AES (NYSE:AES) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.20. AES had a net margin of 8.34% and a return on equity of 27.30%. The firm had revenue of $2.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.73 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The AES Co. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

AES Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 1st will be issued a $0.176 dividend. This represents a $0.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 1st. AES’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of AES from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of AES from $17.00 to $12.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of AES to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of AES from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $18.30.

About AES

The AES Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified power generation and utility company in the United States and internationally. The company owns and/or operates power plants to generate and sell power to customers, such as utilities, industrial users, and other intermediaries; owns and/or operates utilities to generate or purchase, distribute, transmit, and sell electricity to end-user customers in the residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental sectors; and generates and sells electricity on the wholesale market.